(Editor’s note: This post about the ethical AI conference in Paris is part of Dispatches’ Tech Tuesday series. We cover tech because so many of our highly skilled internationals are developers, entrepreneurs and founders.)
Researchers, leaders and policymakers across the globe are trying to figure out how to make sure artificial intelligence doesn’t end civilization as we know it. Europe is pulling together the people from Anthropic, Google, universities and government who can reign in technology. IASEAI’s February gathering at UNESCO headquarters will put AI researchers, policymakers and industry leaders at the center of an international debate over human control, ethical standards and the future of the technology.
Registration opens: 20 November
Location: Paris
As artificial intelligence becomes more integrated into business, government, education and everyday life, researchers, policymakers and technology professionals from around the world will gather in Paris in February to take up a question that grows more urgent with each advance: How can AI be developed to benefit humanity without creating risks that society cannot control?
The International Association for Safe and Ethical AI, known as IASEAI, will hold its third annual conference 9 thru 12 February at UNESCO headquarters. The four-day event will bring together specialists from academia, government, industry and civil society to examine the technical, ethical and policy challenges posed by increasingly powerful AI systems.
Unlike technology exhibitions focused on new products and commercial applications, the conference is designed to address the broader implications of AI.
The association’s stated mission is to encourage the development of systems that are safe, accountable and aligned with human values, while advancing research and informing public policy. The conference comes as governments struggle to keep pace with generative AI, autonomous systems and sophisticated digital agents. Questions about privacy, misinformation, employment, cybersecurity and the potential loss of meaningful human oversight have moved from academic debate to the center of public policy discussions.
The Paris conference will approach those questions from multiple perspectives, recognizing that computer scientists and technology companies cannot address the challenges alone.
Confirmed speakers include four major players in AI:
• Anca Dragan, VP of AI Safety, Alignment, and Behavior, Google DeepMind
• Peter Hallinan, Amazon’s director of Responsible AI
• Neerav Kingsland, the Anthropic Institute
• Iason Gabriel, AGI & Society Lead, Google DeepMind
Other speakers include:
Andrew Chi-Chih Yao, Dean of the College of AI and Dean of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences, Tsinghua University and the 2000 Turing Award Winner; Shafi Goldwasser RSA Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the 2012 Turing Award Winner; Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and a member of The Elders; Tristan Harris, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology; and the Rev. Enzo Fortunato, an Italian writer and commentator. The program is expected to include plenary sessions, presentations, panel discussions and workshops. The main conference runs 9 – 10 February, followed by a two-day workshop program 11 and 12 February.
Topics will range from the technical challenge of keeping advanced AI systems under human control to the social consequences of deploying the technology on a large scale.
Subjects include AI alignment (making sure systems pursue the goals their designers intend), autonomous weapons, human rights, privacy and surveillance, cybersecurity, the future of employment and education, the environmental costs of computing infrastructure, and the growing influence of AI-generated information.
This is another pricy AI conference, with the regular admission fee of 1150 euros. Student tickets are 600 euros.
A new Model Policy Track is intended to move discussions beyond identifying problems and toward developing practical proposals. It invites participants to draft policy language that legislators, regulators, government ministries and standards organizations could use. The goal is to connect scientific research and technical expertise with the people who write and carry out public policy. According to David Evan Harris, who is helping lead the track, 12 proposals are expected to be selected for presentation. Participants will refine their proposals in a closed-door working session, then present them for feedback during the main conference. The resulting documents are to be refined and published through the IASEAI library for possible use by institutions and policymakers.
IASEAI describes itself as an independent, nonprofit, membership-based organization of researchers, policymakers, civil society groups and industry professionals. Its work extends beyond the annual conference to international working groups, policy briefs, standards submissions and research initiatives. The organization held its inaugural conference in Paris in February 2025, shortly before the French government’s AI Action Summit. That meeting drew more than 700 in-person participants from 65 countries and more than 1,400 online participants, according to the association.
UNESCO has developed international guidance on the ethics of AI that emphasizes human rights, transparency, fairness and the protection of human dignity. The IASEAI conference, however, is organized by the association and is not a UNESCO event. For European technology companies, researchers and policymakers, the meeting offers a chance to take part in discussions that could influence how AI systems are evaluated, governed and deployed across borders.
IASEAI 2027: How to participate
Conference: Third annual conference of the International Association for Safe and Ethical AI
Dates: 9 – 12 February 2027
Location: UNESCO headquarters, 7 Place de Fontenoy, Paris
Format: In person
Registration opens: 20 November,
Financial assistance and volunteer requests due: 11 December
Final registration deadline: 22 January, 2027
How to sign up
Applications and participation requests go through an IASEAI member account. Prospective attendees should create an account on the conference website and submit a statement of interest. Attendance is subject to an application and selection process.
Useful links
Contact: conference@iaseai.org
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Alice Verberne is a contributing writer for Dispatches Europe. She has worked in print journalism and magazine production in the United States and Europe throughout her career. She currently resides in France where she enjoys visiting former French speaking colonies and discussing history with the locals.
